Ever have a complicated relationship with someone? A relationship where you love the person so much but they also drive you crazy? A relationship where you want what’s best for them, but they look at your advice suspiciously? If so, you’re in luck, because the apostle Paul also had some complicated relationships, especially with the Corinthian Church.

Paul planted the church in Corinth during his second missionary journey. He stayed in Corinth for about 18 months, being “bivocational,” preaching the gospel and working as a tentmaker with Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:1-8). During his ministry in Corinth, both Jews and Gentiles came to faith in Jesus. Paul loved the Corinthians deeply, even acknowledging their giftedness (1 Cor. 1:5-7). Yet, Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians became strained due to the number of issues that arose within the church.

Cultural Context of 2 Corinthians

Some of the issues that came up were due to the fact that the Corinthians were wrestling with their faith in the midst of a pagan and immoral culture. The history of the city of Corinth was tumultuous. The city was destroyed by the Romans in ancient times  but eventually repopulated with the poor. Because so many poor inhabited the city, it was looked down upon for a long time. The city’s wealth and influence rebounded due to its location by the water as a trade port. Eventually, Corinth became powerful again, even eclipsing Athens in the time of Paul. The city boasted upwards of a million residents.

The wealth and power of the city provided many benefits to the church, as some believers came from the “elite” stratosphere of society, enabling them to host church gatherings in their homes. Yet the wealth and power also resulted in widespread licentiousness, sexual immorality, and pagan idol worship. Within Greco-Roman culture, pagan worship was common place. Often, the pagan temple was the centerpiece of the neighborhood, hosting meals within its precincts. Animals were sacrificed to the pagan gods and then the leftover meat was sold in the market place. Idolatry was an ever-present reality for believers in Corinth. These issues continued to afflict the lives of the believers in the church, causing a lot of dysfunction and in-fighting.

To address these issues, Paul wrote 1 & 2 Corinthians. The Corinthians didn’t always take kindly to Paul’s rebuke and teaching, however. They were often critical and suspicious of Paul, even though he spent so much time with them. By the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, the Corinthians had numerous criticisms of Paul:

• He’s duplicitous, saying he’d come visit but really intended not to (2 Cor. 1:17-20)
• He’s incompetent (2 Cor. 3:5-6) 
• He’s too harsh in his letters and too easy-going in person (2 Cor. 10:1) 
• He’s not a good speaker (2 Cor. 10:10)
• He’s claiming to have these visions of the glorious Christ yet he’s suffering all the time (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
• He’s offensive because he won’t take money from them (and bow to their expectations) (2 Cor. 11:7-9)
• He’s hypocritical – he’s not taking money from them but he’s taking money from other places (2 Cor. 12:16-18)

Paul then wrote 2 Corinthians to largely defend himself and his apostleship. Besides all the criticisms he faced from the Corinthians, false teachers—who Paul facetiously labels as “super apostles”—had infiltrated the Corinthian church and were leading people astray. They were trying to undermine Paul’s apostolic authority so that they could gain control over the church. So Paul writes the letter of 2 Corinthians to set the record straight.

Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians

One of the things that makes interpreting 2 Corinthians challenging is the fact that Paul most likely wrote four letters to the Corinthians, two of which have been lost to history!

• The “Previous” Letter: In 1 Corinthians 5:9, Paul speaks about the previous letter he wrote to them: “I wrote to you in my letter…” In this “previous” letter, Paul instructed the church to avoid sexually immoral believers. Unfortunately, the Corinthians misunderstood Paul’s instructions, necessitating Paul to write a follow up.
• 1 Corinthians: Paul wrote 1 Corinthians as a follow up to his “previous” letter while also addressing new questions the Corinthians had (cf. 8:1; 12:1). Paul instructed the Corinthians in matter concerning how to relate in marriage and singleness, eating meat offered to idols, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 15:1). He also had to rebuke the Corinthians for their divisions and refusal to take sexual immorality seriously (1:10-13; 5:1-2).
• The “Severe” Letter: Even after receiving 1 Corinthians, the Corinthian church still did not get its act together! So Paul wrote another letter, a “severe” letter. We know about the presence of the severe letter because Paul mentions it a few times in 2 Corinthians (2:3-4; 7:8-9). While we don’t know the exact contents of this letter, it most likely was a severe rebuke to the Corinthians for their tolerance of sexual immorality and refusal to take his apostolic authority seriously.
• 2 Corinthians: Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to address lingering criticisms from the Corinthians and to reassert his apostolic authority and credentials. False teachers, the “super-apostles” as Paul ironically calls them, had infiltrated the Corinthian church and were attempting to amass their own followings among the Corinthians. The “super-apostles” emphasized a theology of human glory, ingenuity, and success, whereas Paul reaffirms the truth that the gospel is often most gloriously displayed through suffering and weakness.

As you read 2 Corinthians, keep in mind Paul’s relationship to this church: his history among them, his affection for them, and, at times, his frustrations with them. Understanding both Paul’s connections to the Corinthians as well as the cultural backgrounds to the letter helps provides a richer understanding of one of Paul’s most personal letters.